Irene worried, but it was an unnecessary concern.

“I have some business, so I may not be able to have dinner together for a while.”

Since there would be no dinner appointments at all.

Although Irene felt perplexed and disappointed at the abrupt change in Carlos’s response, she replied calmly, without revealing her emotions.

“I see.”
Irene thought she concealed her emotions reasonably well, but unfortunately, Carlos could clearly see that she was feeling disappointed.

“…….”

I didn’t want this either.

It seems that Abel might intervene during dinner, and as they go out late, the time for repairing the barrier has become shorter.

Yesterday, due to Abel’s continued power consumption, Carlos had to return early as Abel struggled, but he couldn’t afford to do that anymore.

Even if the barrier repair is delayed, it doesn’t matter.

There’s a risk that the dispatched team sent with Abel might encounter them at the temple, so Irene needed to quickly finish repairing the barrier and send Abel back.

If necessary, just send him back, and the remaining repairs would be my responsibility.

… But I need my strength back before that.

“…….”

Carlos’s gaze lingered momentarily on Irene’s left leg before returning to her.

Whether she interpreted his gaze negatively or not, Irene smiled lightly and said, “I’m really okay; don’t worry.”

It might sound like I’m asking for concern even if I say I’m okay. That’s probably just my misconception.

Carlos frowned.

Honestly, whether Irene was disappointed or not, Carlos didn’t need to be concerned. Initially, paying attention to such matters was uncharacteristic of Carlos.

“…….”

So, even though he thought about ignoring it, he couldn’t help but notice it.

Then let’s solve the problem.

Without saying anything, Carlos looked down at Irene and said, “It’s morning.”

“What?”

Not understanding his words, Irene asked, and Carlos kindly explained, “We can have breakfast together.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Irene’s eyes widen momentarily before quickly narrowing like a crescent moon.

“Then let’s have breakfast together.”

… Beautiful.

Although Irene considered Carlos’s response at the restaurant to be insincere, it wasn’t.

He sincerely meant what he said.

However, the dryness in his response made Irene feel satisfied, as if he was saying, “I’m fine; don’t worry about me.”

Carlos finished his quick face wash and turned around.

“I’ll leave now. I’ll take you to the bedroom.”

Returning to the Prince’s palace, Jerdin immediately wrote a letter to Carlos.

He couldn’t write a long letter as he had to tie it to the leg of a messenger bird, so he provided a brief overview of the situation.

By the way, wouldn’t Master be furious if he knew that Her Majesty intervened in this case?

Jerdin was relieved that he wasn’t there to witness it himself, but he wondered how he would apologize to Carlos when they meet later.

Anyway, it’s fortunate that they won’t meet for a while.

“Oh, Her Majesty is planning to invite Irene to the New Year’s party.”

So I might meet Master soon…

No, would Carlos even attend the New Year’s party?

“I don’t think he’ll come.”

Carlos didn’t participate in the Foundation Day celebration, let alone the Emperor’s birthday party. He didn’t show up even with gifts.

“I don’t know.”

If Jerdin wanted Carlos to dissuade the Empress, Carlos would have directly addressed that issue. But he didn’t say anything, and when it was mentioned, he spoke as if telling Jerdin how to dissuade the Empress.

And he told me to do what I can.

“This is what I can do, Master.”

Carlos was precious to Jerdin, but the Empress was also precious – she was his only mother.

Despite thinking that the Empress’s actions were excessive, Jerdin couldn’t firmly stop her for one reason.

“It’s like fighting a whale in a shrimp’s battle.”

At this rate, I might explode.

A lonely smile hung on his thin lips.

Jerdin carefully folded the letter and sent it out the window tied to the leg of the messenger bird.

The specially trained messenger bird circled the tallest tower of the palace three times to express its allegiance before flying towards the direction of the wall.

Just as it was about to cross the palace wall.

Whizz, thud !

From somewhere, an arrow flew and pierced the messenger bird’s body accurately.

The breathless messenger bird fell lifelessly to the ground.

In the approaching man’s hand was a bow.

“…May you go to a better place.”

The man briefly mourned the death of the messenger bird, picked up the letter, and headed towards the Empress’s palace.

Reading the contents of the letter, the Empress sneered softly.

“Really. I begged him to trust his mother so much, but in the end, he’s doing such useless things, Jerdin.”

How could he not understand his mother’s heart?

It’s so frustrating not to be understood, especially the mother’s heart that wants to protect him, the Empire, and beyond.

Well, he probably doesn’t know anything.

Because he doesn’t know what terrible things happen when the guardian of the Empire disappears.

“……. ”

Without even reading the letter, the Empress threw it into the fire.
Flurk, the thin paper, turned into ashes in the blink of an eye.

Watching that scene, the Empress turned to the man who brought the letter.

“Keep a close watch on that fellow to prevent him from doing anything unnecessary in the future, Commander Raymond.”